For all the power of the book’s data and charts the reader may remain unconvinced that inequality explains everything bad, and greater equality explains everything good, about happiness levels in different countries. Reducing inequality, nonetheless, seems like a good idea.

Unfortunately, although the book touches on promising themes—including the effects of divorce and the need for home—she doesn’t explore them in great detail. Instead, readers are left with a long series of events, unsure where to invest their energy or empathy.

Nonfans will read Goddart’s claims about having lived lives on alien planets and in mythological locations like Atlantis over 17,000 years ago and will determine immediately that all of this is fantasy, but then, the book probably isn’t for them. A fascinating spiritual composition of one soul’s journey through hundreds of incarnations.

While some other High Fidelity–inspired memoirs undoubtedly “do” the music better, few outpace the grim vivacity of Coviello’s writing or match the depth of feeling he summons from the soundtrack of his own neuroses.

...don’t focus on pursuing money or love; do things you enjoy; laugh a lot, but don’t be a comedian … Oh, and benefit from consistent and loving parenting. First, though, you should read this funny, stimulating and rewarding book. You’ll be happy you did.

She returns to the theme of her writing practice often, but her book isn’t about becoming a writer. As a result, readers may find themselves roaming through the book in search of its purpose. Not sufficiently expansive or introspective to engage a wide audience.

In fairness to Itzkoff, it’s this very will-o’-the-wisp quality that makes Williams a tricky man to pin down. “Robin” is as definitive an account as we’re ever likely to have of the man, but, like the shape-shifting genie he voiced in Disney’s “Aladdin,” Williams was not entirely of this earth, and a part of him will always elude capture.

Collins is an unashamed liberal centrist for whom process is all. It’s the project of his book to argue that “disillusionment with conventional politics” is at best a callow, and at worst a dangerous, form of cynicism. Having recruited everyone from Pericles onwards for his debating team, he more than makes his case.

Interspersed throughout with delicious recipes and bella figura–inspired lifestyle tips, the book is a down-to-earth modern-day fairy tale for the world-weary that celebrates personal transformation and all things delectably Italian.

While the author doesn’t offer much in the way of groundbreaking remedies, he provides a lucid foundation for responding to this complex challenge...A well-informed and accessible guide to treating addiction.

...Although occasionally the narrative has the dispassionate tone of a genial tour guide, there are strong moments when the author reveals the excitement of unlocking a new way of experiencing the world...